Unwanted Company
by Theninjamang
Summary: Sam and Freddie are going 5 months strong into their relationship, but will Melanie and her longing for Freddie cause some rocky roads? Meanwhile, Freddie's cousin, Brian comes to stay at the Benson's for the summer, and may have a thing for Carly…
1. iGet Surprised

_**Disclaimer: The iCarly name, characters and show belong to Dan Schnieder. I own nothing.**_

_**Can someone tell me if finishing one story, and then starting a sequel is normal? Cause I'm really worried that something is wrong with me. :L **_

_**Anyway, this is the first chapter of Unwanted Company. The whole uproar with "Brian and Sam possibly going out" got me thinking. So here it is. :D**_

_**If y'all haven't read "Unfinished Business" by me (.net/s/7749656/1/), then you might need to read it, there are some things that are mentioned there that aren't actually canon. :L**_

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><p><span>iGet Surprised.<span>

"When is he going to get here?" Sam whined. "We've been here for an hour! I swear, if your nub of a cousin doesn't show up…" she threatened, obviously riled up by Brian's lack of punctuality.

"Sam, it's not his fault if his bus comes late." added Freddie, not bothering to tell her to relax.

Sam and Freddie were sitting in the waiting bay of the Seattle Bus Terminal, waiting for Freddie's cousin, Brian. The terminal wasn't packed with tourists and travellers, but it was still fairly busy. Patiently, on the metal benches, Freddie sat, waiting. Wearing a blue polo shirt, the sleeves of which were scrunched up to his bulging biceps. Sam, however, fidgeted in her seat, like she was expecting results from a life or death surgery. The leather jacket she was wearing squeaked against the metal seats. No one kept Sam waiting, especially when she volunteered to do this. As Brian was staying with Freddie's apartment for summer break, he had to pick him up from the bus station. Being Freddie's girlfriend, she offered to come along to greet him. What she didn't expect however was to be kept waiting; in her books, waiting was almost as bad as a world without meat. Noticing that Sam was starting to scrape viciously at her own nails, he placed a soothing hand over them. Instantly, he felt the calming effects that he had on Sam, her twitching hands fell still.

"Relax Sam, my cousin didn't mean to be late, so please, try not to punch him when you see him." comforted Freddie.

"I know baby… but-"

"Freddie!"

A deep voice cried out from behind them, as they both turned, they laid eyes upon a tall, mildly built boy. The resemblance between Freddie and Brian was amazing. His hair was mouse brown, like Freddie's, but it wasn't trimmed, and fell in a short fringe around his forehead. His jaw came to a point, unlike Freddie's, which was much more squared off, exactly how Sam loved it.

"Brian!" Freddie exclaimed, standing up and jogging over to help him with his bags.

The two Bensons were exchanging pleasantries, greeting each other with a handshake, and a hug.

"How have you been dude! Haven't seen you since your mom came down with Typhoid!" Freddie said.

"Oh yeah, that was a greaaat weekend." Brian said sarcastically.

Something else wasn't right though. While they both talked and caught up, Sam stood suspiciously on the spot. Yes, Brian finally got here, but Sam still felt antsy. Like she was about to get pounced on by a large tiger. Just when she was about to go and introduce herself to Brian, a finger tapped three times on her shoulder.

"SAMANTHA!" Melanie exclaimed, jumping onto her and gripping her in a tight hug.

"Melanie?" shrieked Sam.

_What the chiz? Why is she here? _

At long last, she let go of Sam. Even though the hug lasted for a few seconds, any kind of physical contact with Melanie made Sam's blood boil. The first thing that struck Sam was the brown cascade of hair that had replaced Melanie's previous blonde up-do.

"Surprise! I thought I'd visit you! My friend had a summer internship in Seattle, so I was like, 'what the hell!' I didn't expect you to be _here_ though…" she explained, hands in the air.

"You didn't have to visit!"

"What do you mean I didn't have to? Of course I had to! You're my sister!" Melanie squealed. "So how have you been? I see that you're still on iCarly pretty much every week, meaning that you've been staying out of Juvi!" she painfully said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"And Carly?"

"She's just dandy."

"…what about Freddie? Does he still believe I don't exist?"

"Well, yeah… kinda"

"Is he dating anyone?"

"I tried to te- Is he what?" taken aback by her last question.

Noticing that Sam hadn't introduced herself to Brian, Freddie led Brian over to where Sam was, curious as to why she hadn't done so.

"Sam, uh, Brian's here." he awkwardly announced

Sam glanced back at Brian, noting that he was just taller than her boyfriend.

"Oh sorry, hi Brian." waving her hand at him. "Freddie, I… uh, I was talking to my sister here." motioning towards Melanie.

"Sam, come on, I'm not goi-" Freddie shut himself up as he laid eyes on the cleaned up mirror image of Sam's twin sister.

"Why hi there Freddie." Melanie purred, twirling her chestnut ponytail in her fingers.

"You… she… what?" Freddie stuttered, switching between Melanie and Sam.

Brian felt out of place the moment he wheeled his luggage into the conversation. From what he could see, Freddie was dumbstruck, staring with an unhinged jaw at who must've been Melanie. Sam, who Brian understood to be Freddie's girlfriend, stood there impatiently. He also gathered that Melanie and Sam were identical twins, with Melanie's appearance only differing from Sam with her brunette hair, and the slight height difference.

"I haven't seen you in a while." said Melanie as she approached Freddie, completely stunned. "You filled out nicely Freddie." grasping his rather large arms. It was pretty clear that Melanie was flirting with Freddie, and what shocked him even more was that Sam did nothing to stop it.

"You- uh, you too?" Freddie just managed to say.

"Y'know… I'm in town for a few weeks with my friend…" she suggested, placing a delicate hand on his chest. "and I have a whole hotel room to myself." whispered Melanie into his ear.

Clearing her throat, Sam finally said something.

"Hey, sis, remember when you asked if Freddie was dating anyone?" Sam declared.

Melanie didn't stop running her hand over Freddie's various muscular areas, causing Freddie to uncomfortably bat her wondering fingers away.

"Oh yeah, I remember…" looking Freddie intimately in his eyes.

"wel-"

"I'M DATING YOUR SISTER!" blurted Freddie rather loudly, snatching the attention, and many looks of confusion of anyone nearby.

"Is that so?" startled by his unexpected outburst.

"Yep!" answered Sam, wrapping her arm around his. "now, sis, if you don't mind, we have to go take Freddie's cousin back to his apartment." staring directly at Melanie, noting the signs of jealousy hidden on her face.

Disallowing her to have the last word, Sam picked up one of Brian's bags, and dragged Freddie towards the exit.

"It was… uh, nice to meet you." said Brian as he turned to follow Sam and Freddie, receiving a forced smile from Melanie.

The three of them headed outside of the terminal, and into the parking lot. Finding their car, Freddie opened the trunk, and loaded the bags that he and Sam were carrying. As Brian was lagging behind with his last piece of luggage, Freddie ran over to help him, out of common courtesy.

"You can go ahead and get in the car, Sam and I will take care of these, man." he offered.

Nodding his thanks, Brian shouldered his backpack and opened the back seat of Freddie's mom's silver Prius, the very same he used to escape from her when she had gone off her medication.

"I was expecting you to punch her, you know that?" Freddie mentioned, as he hauled the last bag into the trunk.

"Seeing the look on her face when you said you were dating _me_, felt so much better." Sam replied, slamming the trunk shut.

"Who are you and what have you done with my Sam Puckett?" Freddie joked.

With a chuckle, she gave him a light shove.

"Shut up you nub. I could always just punch _you_." she threatened with that beautiful smile of hers.

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><p><em><strong>If you guys could leave some reviews, it'd be awesome, not to mention help me get that next chapter polished and updated. :)<strong>_


	2. iBreak Up

**_Disclaimer: The iCarly name, characters and show belong to Dan Schnieder. I own nothing._**

**_Here it is, chapter 2 of "Unwanted Company." _**

**_Read it, review it, and if it isn't too much to ask, enjoy it. :) _**

**_If y'all haven't read "Unfinished Business" by me (/s/7749656/1/), then you might need to read it, there are some things that are mentioned there that aren't actually canon. :L_**

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><p><strong><span>iBreak Up.<span>**

Pushing the button to call the elevator to Carly's apartment, Sam, Freddie and Brian, all stood waiting in the lobby of Bushwell Plaza. It had come to Sam's attention that she didn't know much about Brian. Sam felt a certain curiosity pulling her to start a conversation with him.

"Hey Bri, where do you go to school?" asked Sam, as the elevator dinged open.

"North High, down in Torrance, California." Brian said, quietly.

"Yeah, just as I thought, never heard of it." laughed Sam.

While Sam meant this as a friendly joke, Freddie seemed to think that it was rude.

"Sam! Come on, be nice." scolded Freddie.

Holding her hands up in defence, Sam was surprised he didn't see the friendly undertone.

"Baby! I was ju-"

"Don't worry about it Freddie." chuckled Brian. "I knew that was a joke." still chuckling at his misunderstanding. "Yeah, well, Torrance is all the way down in California. So it makes sense." Brian explained.

"Yeah! Jeez, Freddie." said Sam as she backhanded him lightly on the chest.

The elevator dinged, and the door slid upwards revealing a stunned Spencer, looking on at a scene that was just finishing up in the living room.

"…NO THAT WAS YOUR FAULT! ALL YOU WANTED TO DO WAS WATCH THAT STUPID VAMPIRE MOVIE!" shouted Brad.

"WELL SORRY, FOR LOVING EDMUND CUTHBERT SO MUCH!" yelled Carly.

"YOU CAN KEEP LOVING HIM. OBVIOUSLY YOU DON'T NEED TO LOVE ME ANYMORE. WE'RE THROUGH."

With that, and a loud bang, Brad slammed the door, leaving Spencer, Freddie, Sam, and Brian to stand and look over a distraught Carly. Uncomfortable didn't even begin to describe the situation. Carly dropped to the couch, sobbing through her hands. In a flash, Sam was by her side, with the three boys standing over watching them.

"Hey, hey, Carls. It's okay, Brad was a jerk anyway."

"No- he wasn't." she stuttered, still crying. "You loved his fudge!" she burst out, grabbing ahold of Sam and crying even louder into her shoulder.

"…yeah well, besides his amazing fudge, he's still a jerk." muttered Sam.

Meanwhile, Spencer had lead the two Benson boys into the kitchen, pouring out some Wahoo Punch into five glasses for all of them.

"So… Brian! Welcome to Seattle!" Spencer declared, handing him a glass.

"yeah, thanks. Glad to be here, I guess. It's been two hours and I've already seen two dramatic situations." he commented.

"Two, huh? What, a hobo and a snake were having a tussle over some crackers?" laughed Spencer. "That'd make a great sculpture…" he mused.

Confused, Brian looked to Freddie for any kind of explanation. He knew that Spencer was a sculptor, seeing many of his works on episodes of iCarly, but he had no idea that he was this zany.

"Just… don't worry about it. Spencer here has the imagination of a toddler." said Freddie, patting Spencer on the back.

"Why thank you my good man!" exclaimed Spencer, throwing his head upwards. "And you, have the arms of an Olympic Weightlifter! Look at them, I cant even get my hand around them!" scrunching his face up as he gripped Freddie's arm and stretching his hand as far as it could go.

"Believe me, I've noticed. You wouldn't think that my cuz would be so buff, being the nerd that he was." said Brian, taking a sip of his punch.

"I'm just going to take these to Carly and Sam." Freddie informed Spencer, slightly uncomfortable at the minor groping.

_Wow, Spencer's like the weirdest of the weird. _

"Hey, Brian, you interested in art? Like sculptures and stuff?" he asked Brian.

"uh, yeah, I guess?"

"Sweet! Come here, I'll show you some of my works. See that robot over there?" pointing at the green sculpture, made entirely out of bottles. "Pretty cool huh? And there's that…"

While Spencer was showing Brian around the apartment, Carly was still crying on Sam's shoulder. Sam grew tired of it, forcing herself to rub Carly's back.

_Daaamn. I forgot how much of a marathon crier she is. _

All Freddie did was hold out a box of tissues and take regular sips from his cup of Wahoo Punch. Finally, Carly lifted her head, clearing her nose, and wiping her eyes.

"Sorry guys. I mean, we were holding that back for a while. …I just never knew he'd break up with me like this!" breaking back out into tears.

"Ugh, there she goes again." Sam groaned, wrapping her arms around Carly's back.

It wasn't very often that Freddie saw Sam comforting someone, but when she was, he adored her even more than he normally would. They've been dating for a while, but every time he looked at her, it was like that first night they got together over again. Nothing would ever change the way he saw her; the way her blonde waves fell like a waterfall down her shoulders and her back gave Freddie goose-bumps. Even the most unorthodox of things, like how her crystal blue eyes sparkled in the presence of any kind of meat, it made Freddie smile uncontrollably. Especially now, how she forced herself to comfort her best-friend, when comforting was the last thing she'd like to be doing in this situation, it made Freddie know how lucky he was to be with her.

Of course, on the other side of the hallway, Mrs. Benson was expecting the two boys, and was meticulously cleaning every visible surface. She wouldn't have noticed that they were supposed to be here over an hour ago, had Freddie messaged ahead to let her know that they were just at Carly's. A part of her wanted to make sure that Freddie was alright, but lately, she's been able to discern that it was a little over-neurotic of her to be doing that ALL the time. Over the past couple of months, Mrs. Benson's mental health was improving, she still cleaned to the point of perfection like she was now, but her attitude towards Freddie had softened. What happened when she skipped her medication for even a day haunted her, and it lead to her gentler approach to his care. Being his mom, the over-protective neurotic moments peeked through now and then, but only when they were alone, or when Sam was with Freddie. Being his girlfriend, Sam accepted that Freddie had a mom like Mrs. Benson, and even agreed to take extra care of him while she had that brief 3 month stint in Troubled Waters. Mrs. Benson had even grown accustomed to having Sam over, and often found the two of them asleep in each other's arms on the couch. It reminded her of her husband Leonard, before that horrible accident.

Finally, the two boys walked in on Mrs. Benson whilst she was running a cloth over the TV screen, not acknowledged by her until they closed the door.

"There you boys are! Thank you for texting Freddiekins, what happened at Carly's?" she requested, putting down the rag. "Oh, and Brian, welcome to Seattle. I hope you had a pleasant trip here." smiling at her nephew.

Dropping his keys in a bowl on top of a cabinet, Freddie took his shoes off and approached Mrs. Benson to greet her with a kiss on her cheek.

"Brad broke up with Carly. Carly's crying about it, and Brian got shuffled around their apartment by Spencer so he could see the sculptures."

"I'm so sorry dear, Spencer is an odd case." apologised Mrs. Benson.

"It wasn't all bad Aunt Marissa, some of them were pretty cool, like that four sided clock he had in his room? He said he could make me one!" exclaimed Brian.

"Just as long as it doesn't burst into flames dear." she warned him.

With a look of confusion, Brian glanced over to Freddie, who was expecting he would be needing an explanation.

"Spencer's works have a… habit of bursting into flames. Especially if they involve wiring." elaborated Freddie. "But it hasn't happened for a while, so I guess it'll be fine."

"Yes, yes, you don't need to worry about that now. Brian, you can have the guest room. Our old friend T-Bo just moved out, so you'll find it empty." she said, checking her watch. "If you need anything, just go across the hall, I have to be at a therapy appointment. Freddie, do you mind getting the car?"

"Not at all, Mom." he turned to Brian, "Later dude. Remember, Sam and Spencer are just across the hall. You don't even have to knock." he informed him.

The two of them exited the apartment, which left Brian to sort himself out in the Guest Room. Leaving his bags in the living room, he walked over to the door that Mrs. Benson pointed out, and turned the knob. A waft of fresh potpourri hit his nose as he opened the door, obviously one of Aunt Marissa's touches. The room was void, empty. Save for the made-up bed, and the dresser that stood opposite it. There wasn't a hint of dust in the room, which he expected. Exhausted, Brian sat down on the green bed sheets.

_This is definitely going to be an interesting summer vacation. _

After he had moved his suitcases into the room, not bothering to unpack them just yet, he contemplated the people he met today. The gravity of it sank in.

_Holy cheeseballs. I just met the cast of iCarly in person! _

Sure, he was related to Freddie, and knew that he was on iCarly, but meeting Sam up front was a lot more exciting. She was exactly like what she was like on the web-show; mischievous and funny. It had occurred to him then, that he never got to properly meet the other half of iCarly. Carly herself. So he debated, go over there and introduce himself, or stay here because she might be too distraught.

_I guess I could lend an ear while I'm there. _He decided, and headed over to their apartment.

Upon entering through their door, he saw that Spencer was on the couch, watching TV. He somehow knew what Brian wanted, and pointed upstairs.

"They're in the studio, just keep going up the stairs." he mumbled, fixated on the screen.

Following his instructions, Brian alighted on the staircase and climbed up the three floors of the loft, to the studio. When he got there, he could see through the glass door that Sam, and Carly were facing the opposite way to him, sitting on the bean-bag chairs. The only visible part of them was their hair, brunette and blonde, flowing down the hunches of the bean bags. Slowly, he knocked and opened the door, snatching the attention of both Carly and Sam. He noticed that Carly's eyes were surrounded by puffy red rings, but to his relief, she seemed to have stopped crying.

"I just wanted to come and say hi. I never properly got to introduce myself." approaching Carly.

Wordlessly, Sam got up and left the studio.

"Don't worry about her, she was just about to get up and get some food anyway." hiccoughed Carly. "Sorry you had to see me like that today. Not exactly the most courteous thing to do."

Taking a seat next to her, he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his red hoodie.

"It's fine, I totally get it." Brian said in a huff.

"What do you mean?" Carly asked, curious at his tone.

"I just understand what you're going through." he confessed.

It was odd, he felt drawn to let himself open up to her. Brian had only ever seen Carly in a comedic light, but now, as he saw her red-eyed, fresh from being dumped, there was a connection between them. A rare connection between two people who have just gone through recent break-ups.

"This might be weird, since I just met you and all, but back in Torrance, I had a girlfriend. Katie. And… before school finished, like, a week ago, we had this huge fight." his voice creaking slightly at the mention of her name. "We had been going out for a while, but the entire time, I had this feeling in the back of my goddamn mind that we were going to break-up."

Carly was giving him her full attention, hugging her knees, and lying her head on them to face him.

"I kind of put it in the back of my mind. Y'know for the sake of the relationship, but eventually it came rushing back to me, and the tension was just too… big to keep back." he explained, reliving the final week of his school year. "We started arguing over what pizza to order, she said cheese, I said chicken. Normally we'd get both, on the same pizza, just to stop the fighting, but this time it didn't work. We started yelling at each other, and before I knew it, we started to air out the stuff that pissed us off, like how she never wanted to play video games with me, or like how she hated how I wore hoodies all the time. Then she stormed out and slammed my bedroom door on me." confessed Brian. "What I'm trying to say is, I know how you feel. You might have not felt what i-"

"I do." Carly interrupted.

Brian was surprised, and intrigued by what she meant by it.

"You mean you felt the break-up coming the entire time?" he asked, fixing his fringe.

"Yeah. I did what you did Brian, I tried to hold it back, but I guess it wasn't supposed to happen." she sniffled.

"That's good."

_Wait, no that came out wrong. _He thought, as he said it.

"Oh no! Not like that, just good that yo-" he clarified.

"Brian! Relax, I know what you were trying to say." she reassured him, putting a hand on his arm. "It's nice to have someone that knows what I'm going through." flashing him a smile.

_Why hello there, could your smile get any cuter?_

"Phew! Thank God. Well, I guess that's one way to introduce yourself." joked Brian.

"Yeah, it sure is." agreed Carly, with a hint of sarcasm.

A thought came to Carly's mind, something that help Brian ease his way in for the vacation.

"Brian, no offence, but you're a tech geek right?" asked Carly.

"Well yeah, I mean I can do some networking and stuff…"

"You wanna work with iCarly?" she offered.

"Wh-what?" stammered Brian, stunned at the offer. "You mean like, do tech stuff? Doesn't Freddie already have that job?"

"Yeah, but y'know Brad was his assistant…" Carly started sobbing at the mention of his name.

Brian had no idea what to do, she was on the verge of crying.

"I'll do it, just… please don't cry, I'm not good with girls when they cry." he pleaded.

"I'll try." smiled Carly, tears in her eyes.

_What the hell is with her smile? It's so… radiant._ He thought to himself.

Unaware to them, Sam stood at the door way looking over Brian and Carly, when Freddie came up the stairs, back from dropping his mom off at the therapist.

"Hey wha-" Freddie began, before Sam hushed him. She stuck her thumb out towards the studio.

"Your cousin and Carly are getting comfortable." whispered Sam as Freddie slid his hands around her waist.

"Wow. Didn't expect that to happen." he said, keeping his voice down.

A vibrating noise came from Freddie's jeans, sending a rumbling sensation through his leg and Sam's lower back.

"Please tell me that was just your phone." Sam asked worriedly, turning around to face him.

With a hand still on her waist, he took his PearPhone out of his pocket and read the message.

"Oh man. It's Melanie again." whined Freddie.

"Again?"

"Yeah, she's been texting me ever since this morning."

Sam could feel a burning emotion rising in her chest.

"Ugh, gimme that." snatching the phone off of Freddie.

_Heeeey Freddie. ;) y'know, you should dump Sam. im a lot better than my sister… Kissing included. ;D_

Trying to keep a straight face, she handed the phone back to him. That message did more than enrage Sam, it made her want to physically hurt something. A look of anger was plastered on her face, which made Freddie anxious.

"Whoa, Sam. Just calm down." he cautioned, gently gripping her shoulders and looking into her eyes. "I'm not going to cheat on you, you're my princess, remember? I just won't reply, she'll have to give up eventually."

"It's not you I'm worried about. It's Melanie. There's no telling what she's going to do."

"Hey, hey. Come on, just let it go. If anything happens, you can just punch her!" reassured Freddie. "and if it helps, you're the better twin anyway." pulling her into a secure embrace.

For once, his touch didn't relax her. No one understood what Melanie was capable of, or what lengths she'd go to for what she wants. No one but Sam, because like all twins, they thought in the exact same ways.

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><p><strong><em>As always, leave a comment, tell me what you guys would love to see happen, some kind of direction would be great. :) <em>**


	3. iStart Work

_**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. Obviously. Does it look like I want people to hate me because Seddie aren't together again?**_

_**So, leave your thoughts, and reviews, but in all honesty this is a filler chapter, I'm perfecting the next one. ;D**_

iStart Working.

For the next few days, Carly, Freddie and Sam took Brian around Seattle to see the various sights it had to offer, while at the same time, getting him acquainted with the behind the scenes workings of iCarly. Mostly the technical stuff, which meant a lot of hanging out with his cousin Freddie, but whenever she got the chance to, Carly would help too. It was unnecessary most of the time, but definitely not unwelcome to Brian. Today, the day of his first iCarly broadcast, they were at Gallini's pies, the three Seattle natives had pressed Brian and talked up the pies to him, finally coaxing him to go. Even though Sam and Freddie were being their natural selves, flirting and having romantic moments, Brian and Carly never once felt like they were the third wheels.

"Look, seriously dude, these are the best Coconut Cream Pies you'll ever taste." announced Freddie, setting down a rather delicious looking slice in front of him.

"Yeah… too bad Spencer went fishing with Socko." sighed Carly.

The rest of them had plates of the very same pie ready to go for them, all they were waiting for was Brian to take his first bite.

"Well? Come on! Momma wants to eat her pie!" rushed Sam.

"Sam! Let the boy take his time." Carly defended Brian.

Gingerly, he picked up his fork and carefully sliced through the cream and to the pastry. The fork carried the piece to his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, Brian understood the hype. Tingly coconut cream swirls filled his mouth, with soft, crumbly pastry giving it a rough, but at the same time smooth texture.

"…oh my God this pie is so good." he declared.

A cheer of agreement rang around the table.

"Haha! I told you!" cheered Freddie. He turned to Sam, "Cutie pie, open up," Freddie said as he fed Sam a fork filled with the pie.

"mmm, your turn!" Sam started to glide the fork towards Freddie, but on the last second, she stuffed the piece down her own mouth.

"Oh hey, come on! That's not fair!" Freddie complained. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I'm taking some of yours now." quickly snatching a piece off of her plate.

The couple were locked in a playful fight, stealing pie off of each others plates. All Carly and Brian could do was eat their own slices, and watch them affectionately quarrel.

"Look at them." Carly said. "They're so cute." gracefully placing a piece of pie in her mouth.

"Yeah, well anyone can be cute when they're feeding someone else. See, watch…"

Oh a whim, Brian fed Carly. He watched her, as her slim lips closed around his fork, entranced by every second.

"Oh! Look at _us_! We're so cute!" she sarcastically remarked.

_What? Butterflies? No, no. That can't be right. I just broke up with Brad. No. _Thought Carly.

After Brian had watched her enticingly take the pie, they locked eyes. Both of them knew it was mutual, what they felt, but at the same time, they felt unready.Unfortunately, this shared moment between Carly and Brian caught the eye of Sam and Freddie, and neither of them would let it slip.

"Ooooooh! What do we have here?" taunted Freddie.

"Aww Baby, it's young love." said Sam, pouting her lips and kissing the air.

Scared that his inner emotions were being unravelled, Brian instantly defended himself.

"No! No! It wasn't like that, guys! We were making fun of you two!"

"Yeah! _We_ were just kidding around!" Carly exclaimed.

Feigning understanding, the couple nodded their heads.

"Uhuh, yeah, sure." teased Sam.

"Just… let us eat our pies in peace!" an annoyed Carly shouted.

Sam went back to unceremoniously shovelling food into her mouth, accepting Carly's request. She went through the pies like a bulldozer through dirt, and Freddie paid, acquiesced, for all six of her slices. It was amazing how such a petite girl, almost 18 years old, could eat so much. Carly and Brian however, awkwardly ate their own pies, avoiding any eye contact. In the fear that any connection between them would be drawn out and made fun of by Sam and Freddie. The two of them didn't want to show how close they had grown over the past week, trying to mask their ever-present but untimely emotions they both had.

Eventually, the time came when it was time to retreat to the studio and prepare for the show. Freddie ran camera checks, making sure that lens focused right, and that the wireless transceiver sent the video feed to Brian. At the tech station, Brian went through his normal routine whenever he was concentrating, pulling his hoodie over his swept mouse brown hair, and digging an earphone into his left ear and blasting blink-182. It was his first broadcast as iCarly's new assistant technical producer, and he wanted everything to go smoothly, immersing himself in the final checks. Meanwhile, Carly and Sam were warming up; Carly pacing the studio, muttering prep phrases that she learnt off of cheerleaders, and Sam… well, her warm up was eating a bucket of fried chicken.

"5 minutes to air guys!" announced Freddie, snatching the looks of all of the entire studio.

While Sam was chewing on one of her last pieces of chicken, she could've sworn that Carly glanced several times at Brian's direction.

_OOOOOOO Carly and Brian? Momma's intrigued. _

Finishing her last chicken leg, Sam crept over to Carly, who was still engulfed in her own warm ups.

"Psst. Carls. Checking out Brian much?"

"What? No! I wasn't _checking_ out Brian." she said, with air-quotes around 'checking'.

"You don't have to hide it from me! It's nice that you're moving on."

"wha-you're insane!" stammered Carly.

"Guys! 10 seconds to show!" notified Freddie.

"We'll talk about this later!" whispered Sam.

"In 5… 4… 3… 2…" counted Freddie, skipping the '1' and gesturing them into the show.

"Hey! I'm Carly! And she…"

"…is Sam!"

"And you're watching…"

"iCARLY!" the two hosts said in perfect unison.

Sam clicked a button, and canned applause rang through the studio, and around the world.

"On tonight's show, we show you what happens when you try cooking a chicken with a lighter, and some insect repellant!" Carly proclaimed, with an infectious enthusiasm.

"And kids, remember not to try this at home." warned Sam, closing in on the camera. "We got Spencer to do this for us, and he almost burnt down the studio!" she exclaimed, eyes and mouth wide open, faking excitement.

"And do _not_ eat the chicken either! Insect Repellant and chicken don't go well together. Do they Sam?"

"…Nope." muttered Sam, rubbing her stomach.

They wrap up the show, some thirty minutes later. Freddie, proud that his cousin had just did his first iCarly broadcast, went out with Sam to get all of them a round of B.F Wangs. Brian honestly thought that it was all an over-reaction, to him he was just doing what he loved. Even though he thought it was going overboard, he didn't protest. It left time for him and Carly to be alone and talk about what happened today. It wasn't like him to leave things untouched, he'd rather discuss it than leave the topic out to hang. Anxiously, he approached Carly, who was cleaning up the feathers from the last act of the night, and decided to bend down and help her pick them up.

"That was genius what you guys did with that feather bomb. It would've been cooler if and actual person held it though." said Brian, trying to make some conversation.

"Yeah, well, Gibby had to go to Canada, so this mana-gibby had to do." patting the odd replica of Gibby on its leg.

Brian laughed, and so did Carly. But after that, nothing. Just the awkward sounds of their fingernails scraping lightly against the floor as they picked up feathers. Finally, Brian gave in to his inner voice that told hi to just hurry up and talk about it.

"Carly… about today…"

"I know, we're both coming from break-ups, and getting together would be, well… stupid." interrupted Carly.

Brian was impressed. She really did think things through. Feeling uncomfortable, he sat down, stretching out his legs. Carly followed suit, crossing hers, sitting Indian style.

"You're really smart you know that?" he said, appraising her.

"Oh stop it." smiled Carly, clearly flattered.

There had to be an ultimatum, something that they could both agree on that wouldn't screw up their friendship, but still let them stay as close as they were.

"We don't have to stop these moments though, cause they're nice. I mean, its only been a week for me in Seattle, but spending time hanging out with you? Highlight of my vacation, hands down." he confessed.

"Definitely." she grinned, meaning every syllable of it.

_**Leave your reviews y'all :D**_


	4. iSanctuary

_**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. Obviously. :L**_

_**The next chapter of this fic, I was kinda bummed that I didn't get reviews, or comments. But hey, I kept writing cause I love it. :L**_

_**Sam and Freddie are going 5 months strong into their relationship,**_

_**but will Melanie and her longing for Freddie cause some rocky roads?**_

_**Meanwhile, Freddie's cousin, Brian comes to stay at the Benson's for the**_

_**summer, and may have a thing for Carly, but their situation isn't fit for anything serious yet. **_

_**Read it and leave some comments if you want to. :)**_

* * *

><p><span>iSanctuary. <span>

In a park, not far from Bushwell Plaza, where the bright summer sky bathes the grassy knolls and tree tops in a warm golden sheen, there's a group of birch trees. Tightly packed, and inconspicuous to the average passer by. If you happen to venture into this covert patch of leaves and trunks, you'll notice that a small clearing marks the centre of the tiny forest. In that clearing, a lone park bench stands, one that many people are unaware of, and may continue to be unaware of. The weathered wooden planks have a certain air to it, an air that calms all who stumble across this miracle of nature. Carly was one of the few that knew of it, and today, she brought a visitor.

"Are you sure that it's here?" pestered Brian.

"Yes! Y'know, I've been here before Brian." chided Carly.

All doubt was wiped clean from his mind as soon as he squeezed himself through the tough trunks of the birches. The noon sun was shining high and bright, and the tops of the trees seemed to have parted to let the rays fall directly onto the lone park bench.

"Wow…" mused Brian. "this is…"

He was at a loss for words. What could possibly describe this? Serene? Peaceful? Tranquil? They only just scratched that surface.

"You're the first person I brought here, even Sam doesn't know about it." Carly told him.

He turned to face her, aware that he had completely forgotten about her. Her slim frame had placed itself on the bench, legs crossed, her hands disappeared under her thighs.

"Why?" taking a seat next to her.

"Because of what you said last Sunday." she smiled, warming his heart. "You're a nice guy Brian, and I really do like it when we hang out. And I figured, since we've grown so close in such a short amount of time, I should let you see where I come to relax." she answered him.

Brian took in what she had to say. He felt honoured that Carly, who he's only known for about a week and a half, opened up to him like this.

"So what do we do now?" asked Brian.

"We can talk?" said Carly, giving Brian a smile that made his insides jitter.

So they sat there and talked, with no limit as to how long they could stay there. Brian told her about his mom, the illusive "Aunt Susan" that Carly had heard of. About the weird sicknesses he'd watch her live through, how he went a whole week sitting on a couch finishing a whole series of games on a dare. Carly told him about her dad, and how she missed him so much. How she dated this guy Griffin with a weird obsession with Pee-Wee babies, and how she ended up hanging from a painting platform, 16 floors up her building. They connected, on so many levels. Finally, when the sun started to dip below the tree line, and the light in the clearing was growing scarce, they both decided it was time to head back to Bushwell.

"Wait!" Carly called out as he headed to squeeze through the trees. "We have to mark the bench!"

Upon turning, he saw Carly brandishing her house keys.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"Well, whenever I come here, I mark the bench to keep count of how many times I've been here." holding out the key chain to him.

Carly shimmied over, and pointed to the corner of the bench she was sitting on. When he looked closer, she saw that there was already three notches, with a "C" behind the marks. While Carly watched him from the other side of the bench, he started etching something into the worn-out wood.

"Take a look." instructed Brian, standing up and letting her see what he did with it.

Leaning in, Carly saw that he left her previous markings untouched. But under it, wood shavings surrounded a fresh carving. A "B" and a "C" had been etched side-by-side into the aged plank, with a small mark next to it symbolising that together, Brian and Carly had both visited this place once.

"Aww. You're such a cheese." joked Carly, pushing Brian gently.

"Yeah well, you're bringing it out of me."

With that, Carly outstretched her arms, her sleeve-ends gripped in the palms of her hands. It was an invitation for Brian to hug her, and he took it as soon as he realised what it was. Her head rested safely on his shoulder, and was encompassed by both of his arms, her skinny arms bundled around his waist, pulling him closer to her. Brian could finally smell the gentle, soothing scent that emanated from her, like a cross between lavender and aloe, and Carly could finally feel the tender warmth that his hoodie seemed to radiate. Physically, it was the closest they've been since they met, and it spoke millions about what they thought of each other. It was as if they were saying to one another, '_spending time with you is all I care about._'

It was the truth.

* * *

><p>A couple of streets down from that same park, Sam sat in the Groovy Smoothie, alone. She was waiting for Melanie. Her nuisance of a twin sister was going overboard with her texts to Freddie, and Sam decided to take matters to stop it into her own hands. Freddie had no idea she was here, certain that he'd just try to come along and do this together. As much as she loved Freddie, and she really did, there were just some things Sam had to do on her own. The bell that hovered over the Groovy Smoothie's door rang, causing her to turn around. Sure enough, Melanie's brunette pony-tail came bouncing in through the door.<p>

"Hi sis." she said, in her irritating preppy voice. Melanie took a seat opposite Sam, and set a white envelope and her designer handbag down onto the bench that separated them.

Her oblivious attitude to what she'd been doing to Sam's relationship with Freddie was what annoyed her the most.

"I want you to stop texting Freddie." burst Sam. "He's my boyfriend, and if you don't like it then you can go back to that stupid boarding school of yours."

Melanie, surprisingly, started to chuckle.

"What? What's so damn funny? I'm being serious here Melanie. Stop your chiz."

Like a villain about to unravel their plan, Melanie continued to laugh to herself.

"It's kinda like looking into a mirror, don't you think?" Melanie said.

"A mirr- What are you going on about?"

"When I look at you, I see myself, but the complete opposite. Bad grades, a criminal record, and figure that's been abused by eating too much fried chicken."

_She just called me fat. My bitch of a twin sister just called me fat. _

"Sam, Freddie wouldn't fall for someone like that would he? He can't be in love with _you._"

It was true. It hit Sam hard in the heart, her only fear for her relationship was that Freddie wanted someone smarter than she could ever be.

"You can't keep fooling yourself that he loves you Sam. All I was doing was helping you see that." revealed Melanie.

"No! You're wrong, Freddie loves me. He does, okay?" Sam argued whilst keeping her voice down to avoid attention. "Explain how he came back for me! How his mom went crazy psycho, took him from me, and then he ditched her and came back for me!"

"Yes, maybe then he came back for you. But, surely he's realised that you're not his type. Face it Sam, I was doing you a favour. Freddie wants a girl who can actually tell the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'. A girl that can tell you that anything to the power of zero is one. A girl like me."

Sam went grew up with Freddie, knowing that he wanted a girl who was all of that. When she found out that Freddie and Melanie went out, it hurt her, but she saw it coming. Her sister was always the picture perfect daughter, she wouldn't be surprised if their mom left Sam in Seattle to go live near Melanie in Oregon.

"You just want him for yourself don't you? You're just doing all of this, to get Freddie for yourself, because you can't stand to see him with me." she reasoned. In her mind, this was more of a plea. A plea to herself that all of this was fake.

"Maybe. You can't deny it though. A boy as smart as Freddie? He wants a girl he can have an intellectual conversation with." smirked Melanie.

Even though Melanie's eyes hinted at a hidden agenda, it didn't make what she was saying anything less than the truth. She wasn't the girl to admit any kind of defeat, but this… it was all too true to her. Sam didn't deserve Freddie, he could get a girl that had a better outlook than she did. It didn't matter that she had been working hard to get into college for him, it just mattered to her that Freddie could be happier with someone else. That's why she submitted to it all. As long as that dork was happy, she would be.

_I want to punch that nub for doing this to me, so badly. But… I can't. _

Her stabbing epiphany was interrupted by the sudden movement of Melanie getting out of her chair.

"I'm sorry, but I have a dinner date with my friend and this guy she met." noted Melanie. She placed a chilling hand on top of Sam's. "Remember sis, all I'm doing is helping you see that you and Freddie aren't meant to be. It'll save you the pain and the awkward marriage."

As Melanie picked her bag off of the table and was about to leave, Sam spotted the envelope that was hidden under it, she snatched it and opened it to find enough money for a whole bunch of fat-cakes and fried chicken.

"That's enough money to get you anywhere around America, including Hawaii. It's yours." she said. "If what I said didn't convince you, that will." Melanie explained, before walking out the door, leaving Sam completely alone.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Don't forget to leave a comment. :) <strong>_


	5. iRun Away

_**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **_

_**So, next chapter up. **_

_**I'm honestly lost as to where to take this story. If anyone wants to start to co-write this with me, or has any ideas, any ideas at all as to where I should go next, PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I NEED HELP. D:**_

_**It may be because I just want "Signal Fire" to update, and I want to read "Mockingjay", and figuring out what to put in my original story, but I'm lost. (btw, if you want to read what I have for my original piece, then I'll find a way to get it to you.) :L**_

_**Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and leave a review, and your suggestions. Thanks. :)**_

* * *

><p><span>iRun Away.<span>

Running full speed into the lobby of Bushwell Plaza, ignoring the furious frenzied cries of Lewbert the Doorman, she took the elevator up to Carly's apartment, which had served as Sam's home ever since her mom had run away with one of her so called "loves". Confused, she let herself have a brief moment of vulnerability, leaning on the corner of the elevator. Here she was, about to do what her mom had did to her, run away.

_Maybe it was in my blood. It can't be. My mom ran out on me because she never loved me. I'm running because I love him too much. _

Everything that Melanie said, Sam understood. Of course, she didn't want to believe it, but when you've grown up thinking something, it's hard to think otherwise. Nerds are meant to be with nerds. How could she not see it from the start? Freddie could be with someone so much more suited to him, a girl that hasn't been to Juvie. A girl that will talk about his tech stuff, and not be bored to death by it. Then, and only then, could Sam actually make him happy. All she wanted to do was to make him happy. But if it meant that she had to give up her own place in his life, to make space for a better girl, then she'd do it.

_A dork is doing this to me. He made me soft. _

The elevator door scrolled up, revealing an empty apartment. Checking that the envelope full of horrid, green money was still in her jacket pocket, she ran quietly up the stairs to the second floor. Opening Carly's door carefully, and seeing that no one was in there, she dashed to her makeshift bed on the floor, grabbing the duffel bag full of her clothes that lay beside it, and ran back out the door.

_Freddie's in the studio, but I'm not going to take any chances taking the elevator or stairs down. _

So she headed to the only safe exit out of the building, one that was used in case of emergencies. An emergency like this one.

The fire escape.

* * *

><p>Traffic hummed below, and the air swirled with a cold Seattle wind. It wasn't the most comfortable of places to be, but Freddie found that it was the only calming place that he had in his life, besides where ever Sam was. Most people would guess that it would be behind a laptop, or at a technical station, but no, he found serenity in his apartment's fire escape. Being cooped up in the studio, and waiting for Sam to come back was too much for him, so he decided to take in some fresh air. Coming here was the first option in his head, being his spot for being alone. The fire escape carried great significance to Freddie in its rusting metal structure. It was the spot where him and Sam had shared their first kiss, long before they started dating. Nothing could erase the memory of him leaning in from the stepladder, closing his eyes, and feeling her beautiful, soft lips on his. Interrupting his recollection of one of the best days of his life, was the faint sound of familiar light footsteps that made their way through the window frame that Freddie sat on.<p>

"Sam? Where'd you go?" he asked, before he noticed the duffle bag that was slung over her shoulder. "Actually, where are you going?"

Freddie's eyes were squinted slightly in confusion. It made this all the more harder for Sam to do, because she had to face him now.

_How did my mom do this to me? I can't leave him, I love him. _

_ This isn't about you, this is about him. You love him, but you know he'd be happier with a girl that's a lot better than you are. You don't deserve him. _Rang a cold dark voice in her mind.

But the more Sam lingered on his perfect features; his loving brown eyes, that perfect mouth of his, and those bulky, secure arms, the more she found herself being drawn back to stay.

_No. This isn't about me. It's about making him truly happy. If I'm going to do this, at least tell him why. _

"Freddie, baby, you know I love you. But you don't need someone like me-"

"Sam Puckett, don't even finish that sentence." he interrupted, moving in closer so that one leg was inside the building, and the other was still on the fire escape.

"You can do better than me! Admit it, Benson!" Sam burst, tone heightening. Her body turned to face him, previously poised to run the other way. "There are girls that are as smart as you, and that's the kind of girl that you're _really _going to love!"

A look of mild shock was dawning on his face. He couldn't believe that she was saying this.

"Sam… Shut-up." before Sam could interject, he went on. "You think I want a girl, that's not you? Okay, sure, guys like me don't normally fall in love with the girl that gave them chiz while growing up. But, Sam…" he paused to take up her trembling hands in his warm ones, stroking them with his thumbs. "You don't choose who you get to be in love with. You just do."

His deep brown eyes shinned when he said that. Gradually, Sam started to feel like what she believed, what Melanie said, was complete and utter bull-shit. His tender hands guided her over the window sill and out into the chill of the night. The duffel bag she was carrying fell with a thump to the floor as she stepped onto the fire escape. The sounds of the cars below became more audible, and the twinkling stars of the Seattle skyline glowed around her.

"Samantha Puckett, I can tell you right now, right here that I love you, and to me, no one will ever come close to you." he sincerely confessed.

All of the corrupted thoughts that had been sown in her mind were sucked out of her when he leant down and kissed her. His soft lips reassuring her of his love, and the doubts she once had were now cast into the wind. They stood there, on the fire escape, embraced by arms and lips, with everything surrounding them becoming an unimportant blur. To Sam, Freddie was all that mattered, and the same went with Freddie. The time came around when they came apart, and Sam, sunk her head into his benevolent chest.

"I love you too." she simply said, meaning every syllable of it.

A bulge in her jacket pocket pressed against Freddie's stomach, causing him to pull away slightly. She looked up at him in wonder, and looked down to her jacket, knowing instantly what had caused it.

"Uh, yeah… this is a long story." brandishing the thick wad of cash that she held in her pocket.

Needless to say, Freddie's eyes lit up with shock, his jaw dropping open and hanging there.

"Th-That's… Where on earth did you get that much cash!" he stuttered.

Feeling a simple answer wasn't sufficient, Sam sat down on the window ledge, and began to recall what happened earlier. With an intent ear, Freddie listened to it all, Sam meeting Melanie, Melanie brainwashing her into thinking that he didn't truly love her, everything. It cleared a lot up for him. Anger grew in his chest, but not enough for him to do anything stupid. In complete honesty, he often found it hard to get angry with Sam around him.

"So… she gave you that so you could run away, and so that she could try and get with me?" Freddie asked.

"Yup." slapping the envelope in the palm of her hand.

"Even if that hag of a sister gave you that, we can't let that go to waste you know…" hinted Freddie.

"Whatdoya mean?" she asked, completely intrigued.

"Let's run away."

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><p><em><strong>Don't forget to leave those suggestions! And comments. :)<strong>_


	6. iBliss

_**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly.**_

_**Daamn. Took me a while to get this up. Being back at school took the luxury of staying up till 2 to finish writing my pieces. Among other things…**_

_**Anyway, read it, enjoy it! And thanks to Secretseddier, for your input, I'm going to play on your suggestion, but in the next chapter. :)**_

_**Oh yeah, and leave a review. :)**_

iBliss.

"What does it say?" exclaimed Spencer, trying to peer over the combined shoulders of Carly and Brian.

"Spencer!" scolded Carly. "Can you stop fidgeting?" turning to face him, before turning back to Brian and putting on a smile. "Couldya read it out loud Brian?" she sweetly asked.

How could he say no to her, it was almost as if she laced her voice with actual honey. Scanning the page quickly, he surmised that the letter was written in haste, and slipped under Carly's apartment door some time after they'd all fell asleep. The only reason why they hadn't read it before Brian came over was because it was addressed "To Carly, Brian, and Spencer."

"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you guys in person, but Sam and I have decided to go on a little get away." Brian read the letter as he paced across the room.

"That's why Sam's bag went missing last night!" exclaimed Carly.

"She must've taken the bacon too! Man! I really wanted some bacon!" complained Spencer.

Brian went on.

"We'll be back soon. But you'll have to either do iCarly without us, or put it on a one week break. At least that'll mean you'll get some down time too." Brian recited, his voice trailing off when he realised what this meant for the show. "We're going to be very busy, doing… stuff." at this point Spencer and Brian shared a brief look that acknowledged what Freddie had been hinting at, before continuing. "and don't try to call us, because I left our phones with my mom. If there's some real emergency then ask my mom, she'll know where to find us. Love, Freddie." he finished.

"We can't just put it on break!" cried out Carly.

"It's the only thing you can do Carly." reasoned Spencer. "Look, just go on and put up a notice saying you'll be back next week, or something."

It didn't take long for her to come to the only reasonable decision. With Sam and Freddie off on some vacation that they eloped on, iCarly would need to be postponed.

"Fine." she surrendered.

"I'll go put the news update up, and send out all the emails." whined Brian as he set on up the stairs to the studio.

* * *

><p>Setting down the warm cup of powder-made coffee in her hands, Melanie pried open the lid of the laptop that was on her hotel bed. The image of her favourite band, Arrows For Fingers, greeted her on this fine Thursday morning. After her little manipulation yesterday, her sole purpose was to see if her mischievous twin sister, Sam, finally fell for her ruse. How would she know? of course.<p>

"Yes!" she whooped, seeing the latest post, posted only moments ago.

"What is it?" her friend Stacy mumbled through toothpaste, as she stuck her head out of the bathroom.

"Freddie's single!" she squealed.

For a split second, Stacy's head disappeared back into the bathroom, followed by the sound of running water, and Stacy spitting the toothpaste out.

"How can you be so sure Mels?" wiping her face with a towel, and taking a seat on the foot of Melanie's bed.

"Look!" turning the laptop around, revealing the news post.

"So? Jeez, that could be anything! Just because they went on a one week hiatus doesn't mean Sam ran away like you planned."

"Well what else could it mean? They can't do iCarly without Sam, and if she isn't there, then it explains that!" outstretching her hand towards the laptop. "See, that's why I beat you in that Philosophy exam!" taking a victory sip out of her warm cup of coffee.

"Okay fine, I guess you're right. But hey! That means you finally have a shot at Freddie!"

Stacy knew all about Melanie's crush on Freddie, although in recent light, she might've called it more of an obsession than anything else. She couldn't pin why exactly; whether or not Melanie was in love with him, or if she just hated to see her sister have anything that made her life seem insignificant. It never mattered to Stacy why though, she was just doing her job as a best friend. Over the years, Stacy watched Melanie move through a string of guys, her brief stint with Freddie included. There had been some really emotional moments late at night back in their dorms, when Melanie would whine and lament over him, but only a few. That's all that Melanie needed, because when she wanted something, she'd get it. No matter what the cost. All Stacy could do was caution her, and even then, her cautions would go unacknowledged. Melanie was stubborn, and from what she heard, so was Sam.

_Twins. Of course. _

"So what's the plan?" asked Stacy, trying to be supportive.

"Easy. I go over there, and pick up Freddie's broken heart. When he sees that there's a much better offer waving in his face, he'll be smart enough to take it!" she said, giddy with excitement. "Finally, I'll get Freddie, and my sister will finally see her destiny in following my mom's footsteps!"

"You'd better get ready then." suggested Stacy, getting up from the bed to make herself a wake-up cup of coffee.

"I'm always ready." bragged Melanie.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the city, in Carly's lounge room, Brian sat there, waiting for Carly to get ready so they could go out, unburdened by the demands of hosting iCarly. He idly scrolled down Rollr, a blogging site, to pass the time. Spencer was also dressing up and getting ready to spend time with his girlfriend, Maria. It was to Brian's surprise when he saw Spencer walk out of the hallway, clad in full paint-ball gear.<p>

"You're going on a date wearing that?" Brian exclaimed in disbelief.

"yeah." he simply replied. "What? She's really outgoing okay?" explaining himself.

"You mean she's really hot."

"Pretty much, yeah." admitting to it.

"Well, good luck Spence. Try not to get one in the eye. Baaad experiences with that." warned Brian as he turned back to continue scrolling down his Rollr dashboard.

For a time, after Spencer left the apartment, Brian was left alone. He was about to go and check on Carly if she was ready, until a suspicious knock placed itself on the door. Deciding that he should open it, he cautiously approached it, and turned the knob.

"Hi! Is uh, Freddie or Sam here?" asked a familiar brunette haired girl in a preppy tone.

"No… they're uh…" holding his tongue before giving her a straight answer. "…out. You're Melanie right? You look a lot like Sam, it's just putting me off a little."

"Yeah, identical twins!" she laughed.

"Sorry though, Sam and Freddie aren't here. If it's an emergency, you can go across the hall to my aunt. I'm his cousin." nodding towards the door behind her. "They left on short notice and…" she stopped listening, letting his voice trail on.

_They what! No. I gave Sam that money, she had to have left Freddie. _

Turmoil swirled in her gut. Waves of anger and frustration began to crash into each other. Had Melanie not been so skilled putting on a mask over her true emotions, she would've punched a hole next to the door frame. She wasn't accustomed to not getting what she wanted, but even if it meant tracking her sister down, she'd get it. He finished talking, but before she could ask Freddie's cousin anything else, a call rang down from the second floor.

"Brian, I'm ready!" hollered Carly.

Brian spun around on his heel, letting his eyes fall on a sight that would never leave his mind for as long as he lived. There stood Carly, in a simple red and white sun dress, her shining black hair, curled majestically down past her shoulders. He'd always wondered why girls took so long to get ready to go out, but if all that time Carly spent was spent on the miracle of making her even more stunning than she normally was, then he wouldn't argue.

_What's this? Why am I feeling uncomfortable. _He thought, as soon as the butterflies took flight in his stomach. _It's Carly, I'm always comfortable around her. Maybe it's Melanie…_

Descending down the staircase, almost as if she was doing it in slow motion, just for Brian's amusement.

"Oh." she stated, upon seeing Melanie in the doorway. Sam had approached Carly about her problem with Melanie, so she knew exactly why she'd be here. "Freddie isn't here. So just leave ALL of us alone." cautioned Carly. "Come on Brian, lets go."

With that, Carly herded Melanie out of the doorway, and locked the apartment behind her, leaving Melanie to stew in one of the only failures she's ever had. Brian was confused as to what just happened between Carly and Sam's twin sister, however it seemed that Carly already knew what he was about to ask.

"Melanie's been hitting on Freddie. Sam got annoyed at it." she explained, rapidly.

"Oh. Well, where ever they are now… she can't get to them."

* * *

><p>In a lakeside cabin, Freddie was just rousing himself awake. The first thing that he took in when the sunlight finally coaxed his eyes open, were the wooden cross beams that hovered above him. To his right, the window gave way to the bliss that was Angel Lake. Tree branches framed it, with the morning sun just above the trees, making the lakes surface sparkle. In his left arm, slept Sam, head resting on his bare chest. Thankfully, her slumber wasn't accompanied by an open mouth full of drool. If he had a nickel for every time that she'd slept in his arms, and left a drool stain on his shirt, he'd have enough money to pay for college.<p>

Rays of sun grazed her exposed shoulders and the white sheets they slept in. There wasn't a thing that Freddie would change about this moment; he had the girl he loved sleeping calmly in his arms, exhausted by what was a _long _night. He drew her golden locks back behind her ear, and took her in both of his arms and cherished her. Under the covers, her smooth legs enveloped themselves around Freddie's, their touch reminding him of the smoothest of silks. Her naked breasts pressed up against Freddie's ribs, reminding him of the spectacular night the two of them had. Eloping was the best thing he could've done for their relationship, and it was thanks to the money that Melanie tempted Sam with. The only person who knew where they'd be, was his Mom. Not because of the tracking chip that was still in his head, but because he was more than confident that she had learned to understand. Spending those six months in Troubled Waters made her realise how much Freddie had matured, and how much she could trust Sam with his care. Of course, she still maintained that protective, motherly personality, but it was within reason. All in all, Freddie was just glad he got to spend some true alone time with Sam. He felt her lithe body stir again, this time, her eye-lids began to flicker open, giving Freddie glimpses of the sparkling blue gems that were her eyes.

"Morning baby." she murmured, kissing his chest.

"Moooorning Princess Puckett." he said melodically, gently stroking her shoulder.

"mmmm." she softly voiced. "what time is it?" still finding it hard to get her eyes fully open.

"I don't know…" he lifted his head to look over at the bedside table on her side of the bed. "9:16." Freddie announced. "You wanna get out of bed and have breakfast or stay here?"

"You're killing me…" she purred, pulling herself even closer to him. "I'd never thought I'd have to choose between you and bacon."

Apparently, in her half-awake state, she could still make jokes. It was among the many things that he loved about her; she's funny, at almost any time of day.

"Well, I'd love a replay of last night." he suggested. "And then _maybe_ we could have bre-"

The rest of that sentence was lost to the world as Sam somehow gathered enough energy to swing herself on top of him.

"Just shut-up and kiss me dork." she smiled, before swooping in to kiss him.

After they had re-enacted the beautiful moment (or rather, _moment_s) that they had last night, Freddie and Sam finally got out of their bed and had breakfast. Needless to say, their breakfast consisted of all kinds of bacon, and given the amount of sex the young couple had in the past 12 hours, Sam had worked up an even larger appetite than she normally had. Every piece that Freddie didn't eat went straight down her throat. Of course, his natural Benson disposition kicked in when she finished the plates, taking it upon himself to carry them to the small sink that the cabin's kitchen housed. Before he got started on cleaning up, he leant back onto the bench, and admired Sam. Her messy bed-hair was pulled back in a hastily tied blonde pony-tail, and her supple skin was covered by one of his blue dress shirts.

_She makes that thing look better on her than it does on me._

Sam noticed him looking lovingly at her as she drank her half-full cup of orange juice. She loved how he looked at her, like she was the only girl he'd ever seen before. Like nothing else in this world could come close to how beautiful he thought she was. Waiting for him to turn around and to wash the plates, she crept up behind him and enveloped his waist with her arms. His head nodded back in acknowledgement, gently finding the side of hers and staying there as he scrubbed their dishes. The light that streamed through the window perched above the sink dulled, but it didn't make this moment seem any less perfect for Sam. Something happened that did take away from her delight, though.

**Knock.**

** Knock. **

** Knock. **

"Ugh, I'll get it." reluctantly detaching herself from him, and trudged towards the cabin door.

The swing of the door revealed an unwanted face.

"Hey sis." chimed Melanie.

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><p><em><strong>Don't forget to leave those reviews guys! I'll try to get the next chapter up this coming week!<strong>_


	7. iGet Blindsided

_**Finally, the next chapter of "Unwanted Company"! **_

_**It took me a while to get this through; being in year 12 is not the best thing to be doing when you want to write fan-fiction. :L**_

_**Tell me your thoughts, ideas, anything really, because I do this for the sweet serenity of writing, and for you guys!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly.**_

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><p><span>iGet Blindsided. <span>

After they had gone to the movies, Carly and Brian decided to go to the Groovy Smoothie, get two Strawberry Splats to go, and head back to the apartment. They took their dedicated elevator up, but the entire time, Brian couldn't stop thinking about how odd he'd been feeling with Carly. When the two of them were out today, there were so many opportunities where he could close the distance. Like, wrapping an arm around her when the movie got too suspenseful, or coming in contact with the perfect skin on her hands, but when those moments came up, all he could think about was how he used to do these things with Katie, and how that just ended up crashing and burning. It was almost as if he was… scared. The elevator slowed down and and the pair of them stepped out to see that Spencer had come back from his paint-ball "date." His short hair had traces of yellow and orange paint in them, and the way he completely drained his cup of Blue Ice Tea told Carly that something went wrong.

"What happened?" she sighed.

"Maria broke up with me." he lamented.

Carly summoned the best faux-surprised face that she had, in her heart, she knew that it was bound to happen.

"Whatdidya do?" asked Brian sympathetically.

Before he answered, Spencer trudged himself over from the kitchen to the couch, and collapsed onto it, clutching a pillow.

"I may have… kinda… shot her several times… while we were on the same team." he mumbled.

"Oh, Spencer." she said, pitifully.

"Yeah…"

"At least you didn't shoot her in the eye." Brian said, reassuringly.

An awkward silence fell between the three of them. Spencer looked up at Brian, with a look that said there was more to it that a simple 'I know.'

"Dude. You didn't shoot her in the eye did you?"

"…twice."

"Spencer! See, this is why we never let you sculpt with paintball guns!" Carly reminded him. "You have horrible aim!"

"I know." he acquiesced.

Knowing how Spencer would get in times like these, Carly took Brian aside to the foot of the staircase and warned him about what was about to happen.

"Spencer's going to be depressed for the next two days or something, so we just have to stay right away from him." she noted.

Brian said nothing, he just nodded his understanding, and glanced at Spencer's huddled form.

"Hey, what's wrong? You've been acting all wonky today." she asked Brian, concerned.

"Nothing's wrong." he lied.

If his feelings were the sun, that lie was the sparse cloud-cover that hid them. It seemed that Carly could sense something that was concealed, because her eyes squinted in suspicion. She never got to delve deeper than what was being shown though, because Mrs. Benson came knocking through the door.

"There you are Carly! I just wanted to stop by and let you know that Sam's twin sister's in town." she announced, quite redundantly.

"Uh, Mrs. Benson, not to be rude, but we knew that." said Carly, with Brian nodding his agreement.

"Well, that's good, because she came by today asking about Sam! I told her it was no harm if she went to Angel Lake to vis-"

"YOU WHAT?" Carly shouted, in complete disbelief.

_She's going to ruin it!_

Meanwhile, over in Sam and Freddie's lakeside cabin, Sam angrily stood clutching the wood of the door, finding it hard not to slam the door on Melanie's smug face.

_She's got some kind of nerve showing up here._

Upon hearing her voice, Freddie had come up behind Sam, to see who was at the door. To Melanie's delight, he still wasn't wearing a shirt, and his entire upper physique was revealed.

"Hi there Freddie…" she flirted, twirling a finger in her brown ponytail.

"Ugh, really Melanie? I'm right here. Your little plan didn't work. How'd you get here anyway?"

"Freddie's mom told me where you were. I told her that I was visiting and I had a gift to give you." she smugly replied.

"Well, unless you actually have a gift…" started Freddie.

"And it better be fat-cakes!" Sam added.

"then, you're just going to have to leave." he demanded.

Then, something happened that neither Sam, nor Freddie expected. Melanie started laughing. It wasn't a crazy laugh, but it was getting there. No, it was more of a "I've got something up my sleeve." cackle.

"No. _You're_ going to leave Sam." she announced.

With that, she gestured a hand towards the door. Peering outside, they saw one deep yellow taxi, and parked behind it, under the shade of a tree, was a police car. Needless to say, Sam's heart naturally quickened when she saw it, and it raced even more when she saw two State Police, a tall tan man, and a shorter caucasian man, make their way towards her.

"Officers, she didn't want to give the money she took back to me." Melanie lied with a slight grin.

Instantly, Freddie put himself between Sam and the police, at least if they were going to detain her for something she didn't do, he'd go with her as well.

"Look, Officer, we didn't take the money okay? But because we know that we're innocent, we'll go with you okay?" he defended. "At least let me put on a shirt, and get her some pants okay?" pointing out that Sam was standing there in her underwear.

Surprised by his chivalrous behaviour, Melanie began to protest.

"What? No! Freddie, you didn't do anything!" she exclaimed.

"Neither did Sam." he stated, as he walked back to the room, one of the officers trailing him.

When Freddie got to their bedroom, he walked over to the two adjacent bags that lay open on the floor at the foot of the bed. Quickly, he grabbed a maroon shirt that was neatly folded in his bag, and a pair of black skinny jeans that Sam had stuffed in hers. He donned the shirt, and folded the jeans. Looking back at the doorway, he saw the officer waiting patiently for him. Deciding against taking him on and grabbing his gun, he walked out of the room.

"Hey, you, uh, dropped this." called the caucasian officer following him.

Freddie turned around to see him holding out a folded piece of paper.

"Oh, yeah, it must've fallen out of her jeans." he said as he took it, and slid it into the waistband of his pyjama bottoms. The texture of the paper felt… familiar to him, but he didn't have time to read it now, so he continued to stride towards the door.

"Freddie! You're making a mistake! Officers, Sam took the money! It was just her, not him! Don't do this Freddie, she's not worth it."

He didn't make any acknowledgement towards her, just pushing past her as he handed Sam her jeans and clasped her hand.

"Sorry, ma'am, but if she did steal that money, he's counted as an accessory." the tan officer said.

The couple were led across to the car, in their hearts they knew they'd make it out of this, but Sam was already on edge and her mind began running out a million possibilities of what could happen to them. Melanie had already had the nerves to call the cops on her, if she would do that, then what else would she do?

Freddie opened the door for her, and the two of them slid into the back seat of the police cruiser. This was a rare occasion for her, not riding in a police car, but the fact that she felt anxious. If she were a hero, then her sister was her kryptonite. In hindsight, their mother sending Melanie to boarding school was a good thing, because it kept them out of each others business. Having her sister around had an effect on Sam's mind, making it worried and generally scared for what she'd do to her. There was nothing more that Sam hated than to be feeling anxious, because it meant that she had no control over what could happen. The only thing that comforted her as the car lurched forward, was Freddie, he kept a steady arm around her as she wiggled into her jeans, and made sure that Sam knew that he was there.

"We didn't do it, so we're going to get out of this, alright honey?" he whispered into her ear, caressing her hand.

"Maybe. We will if my darn sister gets up and leaves us alone, but something tells me that's not going to happen anytime soon." she responded, surrendering to the deep safety of Freddie's chest.

"Oh yeah, this dropped out of your jeans." he remembered, plucking a folded piece of paper from his waistband.

She took it from his hand and opened it.

_ Sam,_

_I know that we're broken up, but I've been meaning to say something to you for a long time… I want you back Sam. I don't care about the differences we have, because when I'm with you, I'm just glad that I can make you smile. In any way. Even if it's when you give me a royal fizz-bin, or when I trip over something, or because I made you a ham and mustard sandwich. You know I call that the Princess Puckett special? It's true. Every time I see anyone eat ham and mustard in the same sandwich, I think of you. I know that giving you this letter would be a long shot. You're fine with being frienemies, I get that. In fact, I'm pretty sure you stopped reading at 'we're' back on the first line. In case you didn't, in case you miraculously kept reading this. Samantha Puckett, I still love you. Right now, I'm getting the feeling that you won't return them. I already forgive you for screaming in my face, telling me to get out of the way. But I needed to let you know. It's not going to change. If you give me another chance, let me in, I promise to never leave you, or hurt you. Cause I love you._

Instantly she knew what this was, and she was certain that Freddie did too. It was the note he was going to give to Sam when they'd broken up for the first time.

"How'd you get this?" he asked, with no hint of unpleasant surprise in his voice.

"Carly, she gave it to me when your mom took you from me. It was the thing I held onto, I suppose." she revealed.

The outside scenery changed from a forest road, to the on-ramp at the highway. The radio buzzed with chatter, and in the front of the car the two officers were just minding their own business as they drove down towards Seattle. Gently, Freddie took the letter that he intended to give to Sam all those months ago, and started to read it.

With his own new twists to it.

"Sam, I know you know this, but I just want to say something to you." he paused for a moment, making sure she was listening intently. "Whenever I'm with you, it's like I'm home. There's nothing more that I'd love than to make you smile everyday of your life, even if it's because I tripped over something, or because I genuinely said something funny. I love that your eyes light up whenever you see bacon, or a Princess Puckett Special. I love the way your locks of blonde hair fall around your face. I even love the way you swing around a butter sock! So, if by some miracle, you haven't fallen asleep in my arms, I just want to tell you, I lo-" Freddie was cut off.

Violently, the police cruiser swerved, as if hit from behind by another car. The officer at the wheel managed to keep the car steady. Freddie and Sam swiveled their heads to meet the face of their would-be assailant.

"Melanie?" Sam screamed.

At that moment, the deep yellow taxi that Melanie was now abusing surged forward into the police cruiser, her face twisted in an incomprehensible anger. The sound of crunching metal filled their ears as the car slammed into the barricade. The last thing the both of them felt was their seat-belts tightening around their chests.

Then it went black.

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><p><em><strong>Leave those reviews! :)<strong>_


	8. iNeed An Explanation

_**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. **_

_**It took me a while, but I'm working on this whole "self-editing" thing. I know that not many people read what I write, but if you do happen to read my work, and on the off-handed chance that you actually found it worthwhile, leave a comment or something! It helps in ways you can't imagine, honestly. :L**_

_**Anyway, read, enjoy, and review. :)**_

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><p><span>iNeed An Explanation.<span>

"Brian, you're not telling me something." Carly confronted him.

It took a while to calm her down from knowing that Melanie knew where Sam and Freddie had gone, and imagining what she'd be doing to tear them apart. But even after 30 minutes of reassuring her it'll be fine, and reasoning that the long drive down to Angel Lake might make Melanie rethink it, Carly's unyielding mind drifted straight to the next issue that plagued her.

"Just tell me what it is Brian! I thought you could trust me." pressured Carly.

_Anything else. If it was anything else, i'd tell her in a heartbeat._ Brian thought.

How was he going bring himself to say it? He doesn't even know if it was worth it. Just because he felt uncomfortable around her today, does it mean he'll keep feeling uncomfortable? There was something between them, he was sure of it. But today, with all of the little moments they had, it was too reminiscent of times that he spent with Katie. It wasn't like him to keep this in, but it put their relationship at risk, so he had to.

"It's uh… nothing." he plainly lied, looking down at the floorboards of her room.

The couch cushions squeaked as she moved closer to him, it was apparent that she wasn't convinced. How could she be? Neither was he.

"You can tell me anything Brian, you know that."

It was that, that one line, said by that one girl that finally coaxed him to say it.

"When I was with you today, I just kept thinking about Katie. Okay? That's it." he blurted.

A look of brief confusion appeared on Carly's face. Looking for some sort of explanation she stared back at his soft features. In those hazel eyes, there was nothing but absolute sincerity.

"Wow, uh- okay."

"I mean, I didn't want to think about her." pushing his fringe to the side of his forehead "Maybe all of this… was so fast. Like after both of our break-ups." he surmised.

"Fast? We're not exactly dating…"

"But it feels like we are! You can't say it hasn't felt that way for you too." he reasoned.

"…Well yeah." she admitted.

"and you can't say that you haven't thought of Brad at all have you?" both feeling slightly angry at Brian's mention of her ex.

"Of course I have." she uttered.

A tiny moment of silence passed between them.

"The break-up hurt didn't it?" wondered Brian, regretting it instantly.

"Of course it hurt! I thought me and him had a connection! I could always tell what was on his mind, and he was really easy to be around y'know?" she elaborated. "I feel like that around you too, and it gives me the chills when I can tell what you're thinking, cause I used to do that with Brad!"

"Well, it's cause you're smart. I mean, you could probably tell from the little things that I do, that I'm feeling anxious or something." he said, adjusting his fringe again.

"When you do that, you're nervous." she plainly noted.

"See! I wa-"

"and when you're gaming or when you're working with the networking on the show, you put your hoodie up." gesturing at the hood on his back.

He was utterly surprised. Not even he was aware of that. It showed how much attention Carly paid to even the tiniest of details.

"You're kind of creeped out by it aren't you?" she asked him, afraid that she truly did.

"No! Actually, Carly… it's one of the things I kinda like about you. Smart girls are really attractive." he sheepishly said.

"Thanks. You're not so bad either." she complimented in return, slapping him lightly on his knee.

His stomach began to flitter when she said that to him. He waited a moment for some feeling of uncomfortableness to override it, ruining yet another moment with Carly.

_…It's not coming. Thank God, I actually thought I was moving on too quickly._

As much as he'd tried to avoid looking into her eyes, in fear of the fluttering wings in his stomach growing worse, nothing could stop him from peering into her intelligent dark brown eyes.

"You know something?" Brian asked as he gazed unblinkingly into her eyes.

"What?"

"You're the only girl I've met who has eyes that are as moving as yours." he confessed.

To anyone else, this would've felt odd. Odd that so soon after they'd admitted that their past relationships were hindering their relationship, that they could be this close and this intimate without any unwanted memories. The beauty of their relationship was that the instant they had conceded any troubles to each other, the burden of those troubles were taken off of their shoulders and destroyed.

_I should kiss him._

_ I should kiss her. _

Their eyes were still constantly locked in with each other as they leaned in, closing the distance between each other. Their lips began to tingle with the prospect of the kiss that their bodies pined for, but their minds forbade. Until the sound of crashing footsteps came from the staircase and grew louder as Spencer appeared flustered at Carly's door frame. He was only slightly perplexed as he saw what they were no doubt about to do, but there was something grave that required their attention.

"You two! Get together later! Sam and Freddie are in hospital!" he loudly declared.

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><p>The moment Freddie opened his eyes, he knew there was something wrong. Inexplicably, he was standing seamlessly in a long hotel corridor, with warm yellow lights streaking a path down the hall. A ghost of a pain hit him; first in his neck, and then again in his ribs. He clutched his side, and looked down to see that he was wearing red polo shirt, and a pair of striped boxers.<p>

_What's going on?_

The only thing that gave him any clue as to what was going on, was what he was wearing. It was what he wore at the cabin at Angel Lake, with Sam.

_Sam!_

A cool wave of beautiful images came at him. Renting the cabin with her, waking up the next morning with Sam's golden locks of hair sprawled out on his chest. The breakfast they had together, and how she radiated beauty in Freddie's simple blue dress shirt. Then came the second wave, sneaking behind the first, grotty and unpleasant; Melanie showing up at the door, with two police officers, claiming that Sam stole her money. He remembered going along with the cops to prove that they were innocent, and then seeing his letter to Sam for the first time since he gave it back to Carly. But the next part hit him like the taxi that drove them into the highway barrier. There was that painful crash, and everything after that may as well never existed to him. He needed to find Sam more than ever now. If the two of them had been in an accident, then he had to make sure that she was alive and well. Something told him, however, that he wouldn't be finding her in this eerie hotel hallway. Disregarding his intuition, he tried to call out to her, but alas, nothing came out of his mouth but a mysterious silence. It made no sense.

Remaining still, he relaxed himself, and listened for anything that could help him determine what on earth was going on. He gathered from the humming of the lights, that he had lost his voice and not his hearing. But he'd worry about that later, he had to find Sam. So, he began to run full pelt down the hallway, ignoring the pain in his ribs and neck, making as much noise as he could with his lack of speech. As he furiously knocked against doors, slammed on the walls, and stomped down the hallway, he noticed that he wasn't getting anywhere. The same door numbers kept flashing past, and the end of the hallway was no closer than it was before.

_414… 415… 416… 414 again! _

Nothing here made sense to him. Why was he in a hotel anyway? The maroon carpet should've been the sterile floor of a hospital, and he should be lying in bed, recovering from the accident. Admitting its pointlessness, he slowly stopped running, till he came to a stop next to a polished brown door, with a golden _417 _adorned on it. Seeing as there was no other reasonable choice, he reached towards the doorknob, hoping it would give way to his hand. A small weight was lifted off of his heart as it turned, revealing a dark empty room. The only thing that Freddie could see, was the window to a balcony, and through it, a folding chair, with a boy in it with his feet propped up onto the railing. From where he stood, he could see no face, only the back of his head, and the unnatural feeling that radiated with the sight of him. There was something familiar about the boy. Did he know him? Were they far off acquaintances? He made Freddie feel bitterly nostalgic, an emotion that only came with the presence of an old friend. Just as Freddie was about to cross the threshold into the dark of the room, the blonde locks he'd been so set on finding emerged out of a far corner of the room, heading straight for the window sill. She paused for a second, before placing a hand on the glass and knocking on it. The boy on the balcony turned around revealing his face.

_Wh-what? Th-that's…_

It was Freddie, but much, much younger. The sleeves of his striped polo weren't filled out like they would've been had it been him now, and the look on his face when he saw the younger form of Sam wasn't the same look he would've given her now. Although, if Freddie could remember, his inner feelings would be the same. This was a memory, and it was one he'd never want to forget. The night when Sam apologised for what she said live on air about Freddie's lack of a first kiss. The night when she offered him a meatball, and said sorry about all the trouble she'd caused him. And the night, when they'd both come to their senses, and shared their first kiss. Even though he knew how this was going to end, Freddie leant against the door frame and watched one of the best memories he'd have, play out in front of him. He could faintly hear their conversation, but he didn't need to. Everything here was vividly etched into his mind, like the lines of a movie that he's watched repeatedly. Sam's hands flew up in the air, and he recalled her disbelief at the amount of pressure people put on their first kiss, and how stupid she thought it all was. The mellow tunes of "Running Away" floated through the window, reinforcing Sam's dulcet voice even more melody. From the doorway, Freddie could hear her crying out for younger-him to say what was on his mind.

"Y'know… we could… ah forget it." he heard himself say.

"What?" the younger Sam demanded.

"Nah, it's stupid."

"No, say it!"

A faint unsettled feeling erupted in Freddie's chest, and he recalled how much courage it took him to even think what his younger self was about to say.

"I was just thinking…"

"That _we_ should kiss?"

He could even see the enormous gulp that he took before he asked her if she was going to break his arm, and as he looked on, he shared the same feelings that his younger self was feeling. Relief that she wasn't going to break anything, surprised at the fact that she wanted to kiss him, and anxious because he was about to. The next scene played out gradually in front of his eyes, Sam shifted across the window sill, showing only the back of her head from where he was standing. Freddie watched as his younger self was gestured in to lean in and kiss her… then things started going wrong.

He blinked, and all of a sudden he was where his younger self stood, poised to kiss her. He blinked again, and Sam's younger form collapsed backwards, caught in the strong arms of Freddie. Then a another blink, and he was staring at the face of Sam as he knew her now. Her gentle face void of all signs of consciousness, eyes softly shut. Everything around him careened into incomprehensible blurs, until he was left in the middle of a black nothingness, with his beloved girlfriend unconscious in his arms, and the steady beeping of an EKG ringing in his ears.

And then he blinked, and it all disappeared.

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><p><em><strong>Leave a review guys! :D<strong>_


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